Metroid V: Revelation
by Dymus
Summary: While on hiatus, Samus receives a call. The X have returned. Now she must battle them once again. But why does Samus think that something just isn't right? Will she be able to figure it out before the universe suffers? Chapter 3 up
1. No Rest for the Weary

Standard disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Metroid or to anything seen, heard, implied or mentioned in any of the Metroid games.  
  
Note 1: Any feedback is welcome, but detailed replies are preferred(both good and bad). Questions, comments or concerns that you don't feel like mentioning in a review can be sent to Rabideau_@hotmail.com. Please use the subject line "Metroid fan-fic".  
  
Note 2: Unfortunetly I had to upload this a .doc so I couldn't have any special formatting. Any sentences or words you see with dash marks( - ) signifies italics. Hopefuly I'll be able to re-upload it later.  
  
Note 3: This starting chapter is intended to be a bit 'fluffy', humorous and is basically just setting up the story. Sorry if it is boring and long, there will be good action and plot in later chapters(if I get that far ^_^), so please stick with it!  
  
Metroid V: Revelation  
  
=====Chapter 1: No Rest for the Weary ==========  
  
Sunlight filtered through thin curtains as dawn came. First light hit the ceiling and slowly crept down the walls, banishing shadow as it went. Eventually the light fell onto the face of Samus Aran, gently waking her up. She yawned as she opened her eyes and looked out the window. The window was specifically positioned to face the dawn; that was Samus' favorite way to wake up. Better than any modern alarm clock, she always said. But she didn't want to wake up just yet. She shifted in bed and rolled her back to the light and pulled the blankets back up over her head. She hadn't been sleeping well lately, not since returning from her last mission. She had been having nightmares about it. She drifted back to sleep for a couple of nightmareless hours before a knock at her bedroom door woke her.  
  
"Lady? Aren't you up yet? Have you taken ill?" Came an old voice, thin but defiant, from behind the door. Samus groaned a little told her butler to go away with an absent-minded "go wash something". "Very good," the voice said and she heard footsteps go off down the hall.  
  
As much as she wanted to, she couldn't get back to sleep after this second interruption. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling for a while. Then towards the curtained window, where birds were now chirping in a nearby tree. Her room was large, but very plainly decorated and lacking furnishings. Her large bed was the most lavish thing in the room with tall corner-posts expertly carved as Chozo, but with no other special decoration. Her closet and the wall around it also had carvings, but only vague vines and leaves. She couldn't remember why she wanted her room so large. She thought that she wanted to furnish it more - a nice couch, a comfortable chair, a plethora of assorted objects - but she couldn't think of any reason to put any of that in now. The only thing other than the bed was a desk and mirror against the wall for doing make-up and hair - not that she'd hardly used it at all in years. She felt like she hadn't been able to do a lot of thing that she'd wanted when she was younger. Work took up too much time.  
  
"Is this how I wanted my life to turn out...?" she whispered to the birds.  
  
Eventually, she tossed the covers off and swung her legs off the side of the bed. But she just sat there a while. Something made her uneasy, and she mostly understood it. This wasn't the first time she had this feeling. It had happened every so often during the weeks after her last mission to the BSL research station. The parasite known as X that she had battled there - with their ability to take the form of anything they encountered - made her uneasy. The fact that they had almost killed her before she understood what they were made her even more uneasy. Her needing to be infused with Metroid DNA in order to combat them - not to mention survive - made her -extremely- uneasy. But that meant that they weren't really a threat to her any more, so it was a good thing. Wasn't it? She hoped so. Nobody had any idea what the long-term effects of fusing with Metroid DNA could be. She sat and thought about this almost every morning. "I must be getting old," she told herself with a slight chuckle and walked over to her closet to get her robe. She wasn't actually 'old' by any means, just pushing thirty, but her line of work was very taxing on the body. She wrapped the knee-length, fluffy white robe over the loose tanktop and underwear that she wore to bed and tied the belt tight. She thought about taking a shower, but decided she didn't care; she didn't plan on going anywhere today.  
  
As Samus walked down the hall barefoot she heard the old voice again from a room quite a ways down the hall. "Finally up I see. It's nearly midday. Are you sure you're not ill?"  
  
"I'm fine," Samus replied. "Thanks. Just get me some coffee please."  
  
"I already made a pot, but if you could poor it yourself I would appreciate it. I'm a bit busy at the moment."  
  
"With what?"  
  
"Well, you told me to wash something, so..."  
  
"Please tell me you aren't touching my suit," Samus said, starting to poor a cup of coffee.  
  
"No, no, of course not. My Lady has told me several times not to touch it for any reason. I'm just preparing a few buckets of water to clean my Lady's ship." Samus nearly dropped the coffee pot as she threw her head back and laughed loudly.  
  
"Benson! Do you know how long that would take?" she laughed. "And besides, the hanger has an automatic cleaning system."  
  
"I am full aware of that, my Lady, but since you didn't need me for your breakfast this morning I didn't know what to do. Since you suggested that I clean something and I didn't know quite know when you'd get up I figured....," Benson trailed off. Samus let out another loud laugh.  
  
"I was tired and joking," she told him. "Haven't you heard of relaxing? I told you before that if I don't need anything you can relax and do whatever you want."  
  
"Yes, well-"  
  
"OK," Samus interrupted. "I've decided I am hungry. Make me some eggs." She instantly heard a clatter of buckets and hurried footsteps come towards her and she laughed yet again. This was the best morning she'd had in weeks. "Maybe I will take that shower after all. Have something ready when I'm done."  
  
Samus wasn't really hungry nor did she want to take a shower. She just wanted to alleviate Benson's boredom and she needed a place to muse over his antics in private. She had to admit that the water felt better than she thought it would. The thought that she couldn't remember when her last shower was almost disgusted her. The ten shower heads that covered the two walls of the corner shower quickly drenched her entire body and soaked her blonde hair with warm water. She didn't bother with any soap or shampoo since she didn't really feel like taking a shower in the first place. Instead she leaned against the wall with both arms out under the main shower head and let the water stream over her head and down her back. She was simply enjoying the feel of the water. A rogue thought brought her mind back to her last mission - to the Metroid DNA that permeated her cells and coursed through her veins. And also all of the X parasites that she had absorbed. Or eaten. She still didn't know how to describe the act or the sensation. It was too new to her. Too strange. Too alien.  
  
-Will this Metroid DNA ever begin to alter my mind?- she thought to herself. -Even the scientists didn't have a definite answer. I guess I'll have to wait and find out. Damnit. I can't think of a time when I haven't been in control of everything, especially of my own body.-  
  
Samus exited the shower, dried and retied her robe before she went back into the dining room. There was a nearly massive spread of eggs, bacon, toast, sandwiches and a wide variety of every type food from every meal time. Samus thought she even spied a fat steak buried in the pile of food. There were also several glasses of milk, orange juice, water, coffee and tea. It was simply and obviously too much.  
  
"Benson!" Samus cried in shock. "I couldn't have been in the shower for -that- long! How did you manage to make all this?"  
  
"Where there's a will there's a way, my Lady," Benson replied quickly, as he began to tend to the dishes. Now Samus was starting to get suspicious of his increasingly nervous behavior. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him sharply.  
  
"And just why would the will to create such a feast exist, Benson?" She asked slowly, taking a seat and crossing her legs.  
  
"Well, the reason is, uh, that is to say-" Benson began to stammer out.  
  
"I'm waiting," Samus told him sternly, tapping a finger on the table. Benson let out a heavy sigh and collected himself.  
  
"My Lady, it's just that I don't know what's wrong with you," Benson began. This answer shocked Samus and she stopped tapping her finger. "Ever since you got back from your last mission you've been acting strange. I don't know what to do about it and my nervousness has taken the better of me. I just...don't know what to do, so I cooked." Samus couldn't decide whether to be touched about his concern or laugh. She decided to do both. She smiled a little took a sip of the orange juice glass.  
  
"There's nothing to worry about," Samus assured him. "I told you what happened to me out on the BSL station and it's just going to take some time for me to adjust to it. But there's nothing wrong with me. I'm fine." She scooped a forkfull of eggs into her mouth and picked up a piece of toast. She leaned back in her chair so it was on two legs and bit into the toast. "We'll get used to it, Benson."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
It was just then that a series of gentle chimes sounded in the room. After a few seconds the series sounded again. "Damnit, always when I'm eating," Samus cursed. "Where's the remote?" Benson grabbed a small silver, buttoned device off the counter and tossed it to Samus. She easily picked it out of the air and pressed a button. Two thin lights that stretched from floor to ceiling on either side of the room parallel to the table lit up softly and a holographic screen appeared between them. The image of a middle aged man with carefully trimmed hair and wearing a military uniform appeared on the screen.  
  
"Ah, good you're up," the man said. "I called earlier, but Benson said you were still in bed." Samus took another bite of toast and put it down. Dusting the crumbs off her hands she stood up and grabbed the orange juice again.  
  
"What you do you want, Molov?" She asked him. "I told you I'm not taking any more missions right now."  
  
"We're fully aware of that and that's why we didn't call you sooner," Molov told her. "There is a situation that requires your expertise."  
  
"I don't care," Samus told him bluntly and moved to push another button on the remote.  
  
"It's about the X," Molov said quickly. Samus froze. Her face showed no sign of surprise but her body betrayed her. "I thought that would get your attention," Molov continued with a slight smile. A glare from Samus wipped the grin off his face. "It would appear that you didn't kill them all when you destroyed the research station. A large number survived and destroyed a colony near SR-388. Where it used to be, anyway." Samus recovered from her shock and tried to make taking a sip of orange juice look smooth.  
  
"Survived?" Samus repeated in disbelief. "That's not possible. The station was destroyed. As was SR-388. I watched it. It can't be the X. They're gone."  
  
"Well somehow it is," Molov told her. "We don't know how yet, but it is the X. They killed thousands of people, Samus." Molov said, suddenly getting very grave. "And a hundred soldiers sent to stop them. They're monsters. You're the only one that can do it."  
  
"And why should I?" Samus asked him. "You people seem to love to try and screw me over. This may very well be another of your ploys to get your hands on my power suit."  
  
"It's not a trick," Molov assured her. "And in hopes of persuading you I've decided to go with you." This surprised Samus yet again, but she didn't let it show - not in face nor body. "We've been working on our own power suit. Not nearly as powerful, I know, but it's the best thing we have." There was a short moment of silence. "Please tell me you'll help? We don't know how the X got away from SR-388 so they may be able to leave the colony at any time they choose. We may not have much time to contain the situation. Hurry." Molov looked worried just before he cut the connection and the screen disappeared.  
  
"-Shit!-" Samus cursed under her breath. She sat back down at the table and continued eating, muttering unintelligible things Benson couldn't make out. She finished off her eggs and toast with a grimace on her face, not that the food was bad. She then moved onto the sausage and sandwiches. Before she even realized what she was doing she was just getting into that fat steak. She stopped eating and pushed the steak away. "Give the rest to the animals or something," she said wiping her mouth, referring to the Etecoons and Dachoras she brought back from BSL and decided to keep as pets. "I need to get ready." Benson quickly began gathering up the half of the food that Samus didn't eat.  
  
"At least she has her appetite back," Benson said quietly to himself with a smile. 


	2. Leaving and Arriving

NOTE: Sorry for this chapter being another boring one. I'm trying to go for a novelesque approach^_^ I wanted to end it earlier, but then I'd have to push the initial combat into a fourth chapter. Action will start up next chapter, then ramp up as it goes on. Please stick with it. I might even have to see about moving this into the R section later, but we'll see.  
  
=====Chapter 2: Leaving and Arriving==========  
  
Back in her room, Samus threw off her robe and opened her closet. She pulled out a tight black leotard that covered everything but her head, hands and feet. After squeezing her body into it, she grabbed an elastic ring and messily tied her hair into a ponytail. She put loose jeans and a sweater over the leotard. She then tossed her long black leather jacket on over it and tied on a pair heavy brown boots. She headed for the door, but paused at her mirror. She stopped and looked at herself for a moment. Not at how she was dressed - she looked into her own eyes. She wasn't sure why she was doing it. Suddenly she could feel her heartbeat increase. She felt as if she were trying to see inside of herself; trying to see the Metroid. Or was it the Metroid trying to look at her? She shook her head violently to regain control and stalked out of the room.  
  
Samus sped through her large house - more of a mini-mansion, really, situated at the top of a low grassy hill with dottings of trees - and through the main doors. She yelled a quick "I'm leaving, Benson!" and closed the door. The air was colder than she thought it might be, but that didn't matter. She turned away from the front of her home and jogged around the side. She headed for a small building with a heavy metal door. A keypad and panel were fixed to the outside. She walked up to it and punched in a long string of numbers that most would never be able to memorized. Benson had trouble with it, but he almost never needed to anyway. Samus sighed as she did it. It took too long to enter, but she was paranoid about people - well, the Federation at least - trying to get in to look at - if not take - her suit or mess with her ship. After the code was done she placed her hand on the panel and let the computer scan it. The panel turned green and the door slid open.  
  
The only thing in this building was a large, rectangular freight elevator. She stepped onto it and pushed the down button. The elevator slowly moved down. Samus stood in the middle with her arms crossed. She was glad for the sweater and coat when she was outside, but she had forgotten how warm it was in the hangar. A sign of just how long it had been since she was down here last. She took her coat off and hung it over her arm. She also forgot just how long this elevator takes. -I should put a chair in here,- she thought absentmindedly, wondering why she never thought of it before.  
  
As the elevator dropped below the ceiling of the hangar, her new ship came into view. It was rather sleek looking, with a pointed nose, swept-back wings and colored an impossibly deep black. Her old ship was very special to her, but now that it was gone all she had was this slightly above- average thing that she didn't really like. The Federation took back the ship they let her use on the BSL station - along with it's AI, Adam Malkovich - and she had to buy a new one quickly. What really bothered her was that she hadn't had a chance to modify it during the weeks after her last mission. Her thoughts lingered on Adam for a moment. She had hoped, assumed really, that she'd be able to keep him, that he'd stay with her; but despite appearances, he was still an officer with the Federation military, more or less. He did promise her that they'd meet again, however. She'd hold him to that.  
  
Samus walked to a metal door against the wall and entered another long access code. The door slid open to reveal her power suit. She had almost forgotten just how different it looked. She ran her hand down the front of it. It was smooth and warm, even after sitting down here for weeks. It even gave when she applied a bit of pressure - rather than being cold and solid like it used to be. It retained the same general shape, but looked much sleeker and more organic; which was exactly what it was - a living combination of tissue and technology. When she lost the armor plating during her last mission, she had to continue on with just the organic layer, which was obviously significantly more vulnerable. However, after absorbing the SA-X, the metal and organic tissue merged together, forming something that was stronger than the organic layer, but still weaker than the old suit. It did have advantages, however. The suit moved more smoothly and was lighter. It also was able to permanently retain some basic abilities which were previously too much of a strain on the organic tissue to hold for an extended period of time; forcing Samus to purge all special abilities after a mission. There were also three sharp spikes growing from the left arm. The new look made her very uncomfortable.  
  
She put that aside and moved the suits helmet to her own head. Holding the helmet in place with a hand, she willed the suit to open as she would to move her own arm. With a quiet crackling sound, the front torso melted away, leaving a gaping hole. She did her standard pre-fight check of the systems and ran a quick diagnostic. Her visor told her everything was in order. Samus willed the torso to regrow over the hole, then replaced the helmet, scrubbing the visor a bit with her sleeve. She then pushed a button inside the room and the track the suit was standing on began to move. The track carried the suit out into the hangar and under the ship. Another button remotely opened a round hatch beneath the ship. Small mechanical arms descended from the hatch, grabbed the suit by the shoulders and lifted it up. The round hatch closed as the suit disappeared into the ship.  
  
Samus was still considering not going. She wasn't part of the Federation military so she didn't have to. Bounty hunters didn't have to do anything the Federation Police said; they were independent. But Samus knew she was the only one that could do the job. She never considered herself noble for doing what she did(others had called her that, but she never did), she just knew that she would feel guilty if she didn't. Maybe being saved by the Chozo is what did it - she was saved and so now she saved others. But there would always people that needed saving and evil forces that needed to be stopped, and she was getting a little tired of it. She almost walked back to the elevator right then, but the waning guilt regrouped and moved her back toward the ship. She jogged to the other side of the ship and lept up to the entry hatch on the side, completly ignoring the ladder. She quickly moved up to the cockpit and sat in the large metal chair. It wasn't padded, making it very uncomfortable to sit in. That was the first thing she new she would change. The control panel was in front of her and she poised her hands over it.  
  
"Let's see if I can remember how to turn this piece on," Samus mumbled.  
  
==========  
  
Once in space, Samus could feel the gravity leave her as she pushed herself off that uncomfortable chair. She floated up and bumped against the ceiling. She had almost forgotten what space felt like. She stretched out on the ceiling and closed her eyes. The ship was in space, but it was not moving; she hadn't programmed it for Federation Police HQ yet. She was considering the situation.  
  
-How could the X have survived?-, she thought. -It really isn't possible. I watched the station explode. I watched SR388 explode. The Federation must be up to something. But what?- A hundred possibilities ran through her mind, none of them particularly pleasant. Samus had always known the Galactic Federation didn't always have the best of intentions, but she never once thought of them as evil. Samus had been so wrapped up in thought that she hadn't noticed that she had drifted down and was now floating upside down with her feet inches from the ceiling and her hair just touching the floor.  
  
She finally floated herself over to the control panel and input HQs coordinates. The ship moved slowly at first but quickly picked up speed. It was about as fast as her old ship, but she was still planning on souping up the engines when she had a chance. She decided not to engage the warp engines; she wasn't in a hurry. The ship estimated that it would take nearly a day to reach the destination at this speed. That was fine with Samus. She went into the back room to get some rest; she did get up sooner than she wanted to this morning anyway.  
  
She kicked off her boots and stripped to her leotard. All her clothes went into a messy pile in the corner. She didn't have time to personalize the sleeping quarters in this ship yet, so the bed was similar to the cockpit chair. She tossed her jacket over the metal 'bed' and laid down on it. It was still uncomfortable, but at least she didn't have to lay on anything cold. She eventually dozed off. She had strange dreams about Metroids and X and the Federation. She didn't like any of them, but they weren't particularly scary. Just strange. Again she felt like the Metroid in her was stirring. It was simply too alien for her taste.  
  
She woke up with a yawn and a stretch several hours later. She floated up to the cockpit and found that she was little more than half way to the Galactic Federation HQ. With some trepidation she pressed the button for the warp engines. The ship first activated it's artificial gravity system for safety and then powered up the warp engines. Samus' bare feet hit the ground hard and she wriggled her toes on the cold floor. She jogged back to her room and put her clothes back on. At warp speed she would arrive in about two hours. She used that time to inspect her suit further. Of course it was in perfect condition, so she went back to the uncomfortable chair with well over an hour before arriving at HQ. She sunk in the chair and sighed deeply. Maybe she fell asleep again, maybe she just zoned out, all she knew what that she came upon HQ much sooner than she expected.  
  
The Galactic Federation HQ loomed over her ship. It was a vast space station with many thin arms that branched off of the main section. A hundred or so ships of all shapes and sizes zipped back and forth from the station. They always did. HQ was a busy place. Most people were impressed with this station, but Samus never was. She just thought of it as a large target. She smiled as she remember that Adam had once said the same thing.  
  
Her monitor beeped and she flipped it on. A pretty woman in a tight suit with brown hair appeared on it. "Name and business, please," she said very informally, not looking at her own screen.  
  
"Samus Aran," Samus told her, still slumped in her chair. The woman's eyes widened and she looked at the screen. "I'm hear to clean up your mess. Again."  
  
"S-Samus?" the woman stammered. "I heard you quit the hunting business."  
  
"I just took a vacation," Samus said off-handedly. "Can I dock?" The woman looked down and began scanning another screen and typing.  
  
"Yes, you can dock at Bay Nine," she told Samus. "Just follow the yellow lines. And I must say, I have idolized you fo-." Samus flicked the monitor off in the middle of her sentence and lazily steered her ship between the two sets of yellow lines that appeared in space and lead to an opening with a '9' over it on one of the station arms. She slid the ship into it and landed as gently as she could. She wasn't used to the ship yet and landed a little hard, jarring the ship.  
  
"Bad omen," Samus muttered as she turned off the engines. The whole station had artificial gravity and Samus was glad that it was set lower than that of her ship. She got out of the chair and opened the port hatch. This part of the ship was about ten feet off the ground, but Samus again ignored the metal rungs attached to the side of the ship and dropped to the ground lightly. A few people coming and going saw her and thought she fell out at first, but her controlled landing made them think differently. She pressed a button by the rungs and the hatch closed. A few more button presses activated the security system. Not that she really trusted the system since it was yet another thing she hadn't modified herself yet; but it would have to do for now. -I might just build a whole damned new ship.-  
  
Samus walked up the long ramp to the main deck people used to access the docking bays. There was a large doorway for getting to other sections of the station, as well as a number of elevators. Only one went to the main office. The other elevators went to civilian enterprises; offices for large corporations seeking protection mostly, but the occasional small, family business existed here and there. The station wasn't designed for any of it, but things had a way of just happening.  
  
Samus thought about delaying for a few more minutes, but decided to bite the bullet and board the elevator to the main office. That particular elevator wasn't used as much as the others since it only had few stops at vital areas on the way to the main office. Few had business at any of those places, so it was almost completely empty. There were only two young, uniformed men in the elevator standing behind her. They both gave her a lewd smile that made her want to hit them. Thankfully they got off at the next stop, but they seemed to brush passed her on either side a little too closely. She thought she heard them start laughing as the doors closed. Samus wasn't in the mood to deal with immature young men - although the thought of kicking their asses was rather strong - and hoped the elevator didn't stop until it got to the top.  
  
The walls of the elevator were silver and shiny, like a mirror. She avoided making eye contact with herself, remembering what happened with the mirror at home. She forced her eyes to fixate on the red floor indicator. -Just a few more floors,- she thought.  
  
But it didn't make it. The elevator stopped and opened at the next floor.  
  
"Samus!" a gruff voice from outside the elevator exclaimed pleasantly. "It's good to see you again." Samus took her eyes off the indicator and looked at the large, aging, dark-skinned man in an admirals uniform stepping into the elevator. Samus stepped back and to the side to let him in.  
  
"Captain Gloval?" Samus asked happily.  
  
"Ah-ah-ah," Gloval said, tapping the bars on his uniform.  
  
"They actually made you an admiral? The Federations standards must be slipping," Samus joked. They both laughed and hugged tightly. "I haven't seen you in over a year." Samus said when the separated and the elevator started moving again.  
  
"Yeah, I've been hunting Pirates along Sector Six," Gloval told her. "Protecting the mines. It's harrowing work, but we've been coming up on top lately - due in no small part to you taking out the Mother Brain and destroying Zebes." Gloval said it with a smile, but Samus didn't enjoy a bit of it. She never did and hoped she never would. She instantly felt depressed. "Why so down all of the sudden?"  
  
"I'm getting sick of all the fighting," Samus said, looking at the floor. "I know they're evil, but I still don't like it. It's an endless war that I'm not sure if I want to be a part of any more."  
  
"But it's necessary," Gloval reassured her. "Lots of people would be dead if it weren't for your efforts. The Pirates were preparing for an attack on this station when you attacked Zebes."  
  
"Lots of people are still dead despite my efforts!" Samus said, punching the wall and denting it slightly. Tears began to stream down her face. "The Metroids were a threat so I exterminated them; exterminated to save lives. But what happened then? I freed the X; they have already killed many and are potentially a bigger threat than the Metroids. If I can't destroy the X then I'll have made things worse and have utterly failed." She let her arm fall and slumped her body against the wall.  
  
"Stop doing this to yourself," Gloval told her quietly, pulling her away from the wall. "Your efforts have not been for naught. People depend on you. Besides, for all you now the universe will finally know peace after you destroy the X." That didn't make Samus feel any better.  
  
"Maybe I should just quit," Samus said dryly. "Go home and forget about all this."  
  
"This is the life we chose. Not seeing it through will make you feel even worse."  
  
"I didn't choose this," Samus said quietly. 


	3. The Mission

Note: Well, nobody seems to really care about this, but since I've decided to write it for myself, I'll continue to post new chapters here. Anyway, the action finally starts up near the end of the chapter. It's light, but should get bigger, bader and more gruesome in future chapters^_^  
  
=====Chapter 3: The Mission==========  
  
With a loud note the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. Samus quickly recovered herself, unwilling to allow anyone to think she was weak. The room the elevator opened into was a rather large reception room. There were several large, leather sofas with a few people sitting on them in front of two desks with a suited woman behind each. Each woman had a headset strapped to their heads and were chatting away while typing furiously on holographic keyboards in front of transparent monitors. Samus was surprised at how calm they looked, based on the noise coming from their desks. Samus was recollected by now and she led Gloval between the desks to the large doorway to the HQ main office. The two women started to protest, but Gloval waved his hand to indicate that it was okay.  
  
The doors opened on a round room with a large table in the middle. There were several highly decorated and aging men around the table. Molov was sitting at the head.  
  
"Ah, good for you to finally join us," Molov announced, standing. "We expected you to be here many hours ago." Samus said nothing and took the closest chair on the opposite side of Molov.  
  
"I got held up," Samus told him offhandedly with her fingers templed against her chin. "What's the situation."  
  
"Don't fall back to your smart ass attitude with me!" Molov said sternly, his face turning tight and clenching his first. It was obvious he was holding back extreme anger. "Remember, you owe your freedom to me. The rest of these kind gentlemen wanted to throw you in jail for that little fiasco back on BSL. Thankfully for you, I understand how valuable you are to us and I was able to change their minds. You know you've never even thanked me?"  
  
"What's the situation?" Samus repeated exactly the same as before after a brief silence. Samus held back a small smile as she watched Molov nearly explode. Oh, how she loved to torment him.  
  
Molov slammed his fist against a button on a panel built into the table, then sat down and took a deep breath. A small section of the ceiling silently pulled back and a needle-like object was lowered a short distance. It began to hum quietly as several small section lit up. The point began to glow and a holographic image of a dark orange and ringed planet appeared above the table. It rotated slowly. A large debris field was floating in one area away from the rings. "This is Cerrius V, home to the five thousand Federation citizens of Colony SC-997."  
  
"What's that?" Samus asked, pointing to the debris field in mid orbit over the planet. Molov pressed another button and the hologram zoomed in on the debris. It was obviously large pieces of a destroyed space station of some kind. Some parts were closer to the planet than others and were beginning to fall and burn up.  
  
"That was the colony's check-in station," Gloval explained. "It was there before the colony was built as a research facility-"  
  
"-but it was retro-fitted when we decided to build a colony on Cerius IX," an very old looking man interrupted. He had the same uniform as Molov, but with about three times the medals, ribbons and bars. "After the colony was build it was used as a processing station to register new colonists."  
  
"Yes," Gloval continued. "Thank you. We received a partial emergency message a few days ago that the colony was being attacked. As far as we know that station was hit first, since it had the only communications equipment powerful enough to travel all the way here to HQ." Molov pushed a few more buttons and the hologram view quickly traveled through the wreckage and down onto the surface of the planet. There was a large complex of structures covering a large section of the planets northern continent. As the view got closer it became apparent that the vast majority had suffered extensive damage and almost a third of the complex was completely leveled. Samus was shocked at the level of destruction leaned forward instinctually to try and get a better look.  
  
"No way," she said slowly. "There is no way the X could have done that." She leaned back into her chair, still quite shocked. "My God."  
  
"God had nothing to do with this," Lukov said, shutting the hologram off. The needle retracted back into the ceiling and the panel replaced itself. "We assumed it was pirates and sent a full platoon to check it out, rescue survivors and retaliate. But they were all killed. The cruisers and drop- ships were completely destroyed. No survivors." The entire room got a sudden air of sadness and regret. But after a short silence another of the old men around the table leaned forward in his chair.  
  
"All we know is that we got a message from one of the ships saying it was the X," the old man said. He was also more highly decorated then Lukov, but not at much as the previous, unnamed speaker. "The message wasn't long or detailed enough so we don't know exactly how they know it was the X. We are currently assuming that the X killed and mimicked all the soldiers sent to the colony and flew the drop-ships back up to the cruisers and destroyed them from within." Samus sunk into her chair and leaned on her elbow.  
  
-This is insane-, she thought. -The Metroids never even caused this much damage. But then again, the Metroids were discovered and stopped before they could do any harm. The appearance of the X was completely unexpected. Could the Metroid have caused this much damage? I guess we'll never know. Of course, the only reason I'm even questioning it is because I killed the Metroids. Damnit, was that the right thing to do?-  
  
"Samus?"  
  
Samus came out of her daze and realized that Gloval had come over and stood next to her, looking at her with concern.  
  
"Yeah, I'll do it," Samus said with a sigh. "But no promises. If they can destroy cruisers now even I may not be strong enough to stop them. You may just have to give up the planet and hope they don't find a way to get off it. Or you could just destroy it and put an end to another species."  
  
"We'd rather keep the planet intact this time," Molov said sarcastically. "We've lost too many planets as it is in recent years." Samus resisted the urge to tell him what she thought with a single finger, but gave him a sarcastic smile back instead.  
  
"Well, you will be there to keep me out of trouble anyway, right?" Samus said back to him. "I believe you said that you were coming with me?" She leaned back in her chair with a smile. "Just you and me; slaughtering monsters. How romantic," she said with an air of whimsy.  
  
"Not quite," Molov said, not enjoying Samus' mockery. "We'll be accompanied by a special tactical team."  
  
"Fine," Samus said glumly, getting out of her chair and picking up her jacket. She didn't like the idea of working with others - they tended to get in the way - but she didn't feel like fighting with Molov right now. "I'll fly my own ship along side you and your troopers' ship and we'll meet up at the planet. We can work out where to land en route."  
  
=====  
  
Samus returned to her ship and sat in the pilot seat for nearly an hour, waiting for Molov to get his troops ready. She began to think about herself - about her new situation. She never imagined that she'd have to fuse her body with one enemy to fight another. She didn't want to think about it, but it was all she could think about. Whenever she was alone all she could think about was the X; and she was alone a lot. She drifted into a light sleep for a while longer until her comms beeped at her. Gloval's face appeared on the screen.  
  
"We're ready," he said. "We're leaving from a bay on the other side of the station. Meet us out there and we'll head out."  
  
"Roger that," Samus replied. "I'll be there in five minutes." She turned the monitor off and headed to the rear of the ship to suit up.  
  
She stripped to her leotard again and stood in front of her suit. It still seemed alien to her. She kept telling herself that it was just an adjustment she'd have to get used to. It was just as powerful as the old one after absorbing the SA-X, but it didn't get the old look back as she hoped it would. With more than a little uncertainty and nervousness, she opened it up and got inside. Once it closed, the inside below the helmet expanded slightly so that it touched every inch of her body - a little too tightly in some areas - which was something her old suit hadn't done; she guessed it had something to do with it being more organic and having greater maneuverability. Suited, she walked back to the cockpit and flew her ship out of the station.  
  
As Samus rounded the station, Molov's ship came into view. It was a behemoth of a ship that utterly dwarfed Samus'. It looked more suited to carry thousands of troops on an assault, not a single team on a rescue mission. The sides were straight, but angled sharply at the top and bottom, then angled again to make a flat surface. The sides and top angled slightly in the front to make a beakish bow, but there was a hollow in the bottom of it. Situated in that hollow was a massive cannon that extended beyond the beak. Several smaller - but still large in their own right - turreted cannons dotted the top and bottom of the ship as well. It was just about the most menacing thing Samus had ever seen, next to the Queen Metroid anyway. But Samus supposed that was the point, being a military ship and all. The words "Heaven Forge" were painted in large black letters on the side.  
  
Samus navigated her ship underneath it to get a view of the whole thing. The first thing she noticed was that, unlike the top of the ship, the entire underbelly wasn't a flat surface. The front was, but the rear half sat higher up. Samus saw a docking bay ringed with lights in the center. She assumed this section was higher up to protect it. Deep in the shadows behind the docking bay, Samus could also see several domed hatches, but couldn't fathom what they could be for. Nor did she care really.  
  
-Well he certainly likes'em big-, Samus thought as she came out on the other side of the ship and reached for her control panel.  
  
She opened a channel with his ship.  
  
"I'm here," She said. "Let's get this over with."  
  
"You're less enthusiastic than usual," Gloval stated.  
  
"Gloval?" Samus asked, a bit shocked. "I didn't know you were coming along."  
  
"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" Gloval asked rhetorically, a smile on his face. "The brass wanted me to take temporary command of this ship for the mission. It's Molov's ship, but since he'll be on the surface I get to manage things for the duration." Gloval looked both excited to be command of the ship and jealous that it belonged to Molov.  
  
"Don't worry, friend," Samus said comfortingly. "I'm sure the Feds will give you an even bigger toy sometime." Gloval laughed loudly.  
  
"Let's hope," Gloval said. "But let's not waste the day hoping for things. We have colonists to save."  
  
The Heaven Forges gigantic engines powered up, slowly pushing the ship forward. Once it got up to cruising speed it went to warp and Samus followed suit. Her ship was on auto-pilot so she just sat there and turned the mission over in her mind. She tried to think of what to expect, but it was very hard to do that on any mission in her line of work. She almost fell asleep again. She slowly opened her eyes and looked out the window. Warp travel was filled with many bright lights and flashes. There was an unusually large flash and her eyes reflected on her visor briefly. It was the same effect as the mirror back home all over again: She felt a presence within her grow and press against her entire body from within, like something was trying to get out. The effect only lasted the length of the flash, but it felt like an eternity. As much as she hated to admit it even to herself, she was afraid. She refused to open her eyes again and tried to get some sleep. She did manage to drift off, but her dreams were nothing but convoluted images. Not really nightmares, not really anything that could be classified as a dream. Samus awoke with a start, knowing that something happened, but not what it was. She hated that feeling. Her comms beeped again. That sound was starting to annoy her.  
  
"What?" she asked somewhat harshly after turning the monitor on.  
  
"We're here," Molov told her.  
  
"Okay," Samus said, getting a grip on her controls. "I'll head down and scout ahead. I'll call you after I've surveyed the area."  
  
"Very well," Molov said. "But you'd better be quick about it!" Molov snapped as he severed the communication link.  
  
"Jackass," Samus said to the blank screen.  
  
=====  
  
Samus steered her ship through the planet's cloudless atmosphere and landed carefully in a large clearing near a cliff overlooking the colony. She remembered her landing at the station and made sure to do it more carefully. She hovered over the spot and eased off on her thrusters. The ship lowered slowly and landed without too much jarring. Samus exited the ship and dropped down to the ground. The gravity was pretty heavy here. Her visor beeped a little and informed her it was about twice Earth normal gravity. Samus immediately headed for the tree line to take care of any potential ambushes.  
  
As she entered the trees, she heard a strange chirping noise. She turned, but it stopped. She cautiously looked around, arm cannon ready to fire. The chirping returned; behind her. She quickly turned just in time to see the point of a spike flying at her face. With no time to fire, Samus dodged the attack, but spun around quickly to fire. The needle-shaped creature with bug wings curved around to make another pass on Samus. She fired several times as it did so, but the yellow spheres of energy missed, hitting the ground and trees. Squinting in concentration, Samus aimed just as the creatures finished making it's turn-around. In her visor a square appeared over the creature. Several question marks flashed in the corner over a line that connected to the square. With a thought, Samus quickly cataloged the creature as a 'Buzzkill'. The question marks were replaced with the creature name. Samus now fired a final shot; it hit the Buzzkill directly, bursting it open. The heavily damaged body crashed into the ground where it immediately began to dissolve. A small green blob exited the corpse. Samus already had this enemy cataloged: it was a basic X parasite like she had fought on the BSL station. The blob drifted aimlessly for a moment, but then charged directly at Samus. Her first instinct was to jump out of the way, but she quickly remembered that she didn't have anything to fear. The X parasite hit her directly in the chest. It immediately began to dissolved over the front of Samus' armor. After a brief moment, it disappeared. Samus felt a sudden rush of some kind of sensation as she absorbed it. She had forgotten about that feeling and it took her by surprise; it almost hurt. She was immediately reminded of the first time she felt it back on the BSL station. In her distraction she didn't hear some leaves rustling behind her.  
  
A buzzing sound alerted Samus to another enemy. She spun around and saw not one, but three more Buzzkills flying at her furiously. Samus snapped the end of her cannon open and launched a small missile at the center beast. It was a direct hit and destroyed the target instantly. One was caught in the blast and was sent spinning into a tree with a loud crunching sound, but the third dodged the blast and zipped past Samus, unharmed but disoriented. Samus reached out and punched the beast with her left hand as it passed. It fell to the ground and she blasted it point-blank. She quickly absorbed the X before it could escape before turning around to finish the rest off. The rest were taken care of without any more difficulty.  
  
After not finding any more enemies in the trees, Samus began walking along the edge of the cliff over looking the colony, but still kept an eye on the trees. As she walked, she heard loud, quick footsteps like a herd of animals coming up the pass to the cliff from the colony. Samus could feel them coming closer at a rapid speed. She knelt down and prepared to fight. Just as she did so, a small herd of thick, low beasts with two legs and large mouths filled with sharp teeth rounded the corner from the pass and charged directly at her. Like with the first Buzzkill, a square appeared around the lead beast along with the flashing question marks. After cataloging the beast as a 'Bulldog', Samus charged her cannon to fire, but remember that at this distance the X would be allowed to either escape or reform before she could get a chance to absorb them. Samus allowed the beasts to get close, then leapt into the air just before they reached her. They passed under her, but screeched to a halt and fought each other for a position directly under their intended prey. Samus smiled as she unleashed her charged blast onto her foes as she fell back down onto them. The massive energy blast destroyed nearly half of the beasts, injured many more and plain scattered others. As she hit the ground she quickly absorbed as many X as she could. She quickly dispatched the rest as quickly as she could, but not before one of the X snuck behind her and reformed into a Bulldog.  
  
The reformed X rammed it's head into her legs and knocked her over. She rolled over and tried to get her gun pointed at the beast, but it opened it's large mouth and chomped onto her gun before she could get it aimed. It climbed up on her body with her gun still between its jaws. It was squeezing with an increasing intensity on her weapon - obviously trying to break it. It's great weight was giving Samus difficulty breathing. It got above her face and dropped large drops of sticky drool onto her visor. With an audible grunt, Samus brought her left arm over to her right side and pulled it back quickly, dragging her spines across the beasts' lower jaw, splitting it open. It roared in pain and released it's grip on her gun enough for her to pivot it and bring the end of the barrel down into it's throat. Her blast ripped it apart from within, throwing large chunks in every direction. The X flew away from her before she could get up, but Samus kicked it while she was still on her back, causing it to melt over her foot.  
  
Samus lay on her back for a moment and stared at the sky. She was getting tired of these life or death situations; even if it was for the sake of the galaxy's security. She would have liked to lay there for a while, but she knew she had to rescue the civilians. Satisfied that the areas was clear, Samus returned to her ship and called Molov down. 


End file.
